The increasing popularity of pick-up trucks is largely attributable to the usefulness of the open storage space provided in the rear of the vehicle. It is often desirable to enclose this open space to make the vehicle better suited for business as well as recreational purposes. Structures such as truck caps covering the beds of pick-up trucks are well known. Various problems arise in coupling the truck caps to the truck bed. First, due to imprecise dimensional connections between the truck rail and truck cap, precipitation such as rain, snow or sleet may accumulate on the cap and leak into the pick-up bed storage area through that portion of the truck cap that fails to contact the truck rail. Often, water leaking into the truck bed may damage cargo that is transported there.
Second, vibrations resulting from routine operation of the vehicle over various road conditions are transferred to the truck cap and have been known to the cap to scratch the truck rail. It has become known in the art to make use of a thin sealing material made of foam rubber or the like disposed between the truck cap and truck rail. This sealing material minimizes the possibility of damage either to the cargo from water ingress or to the truck itself by rust proliferation caused by water collection in the truck bed. The sealing material also reduces damage to the truck rail caused by abrading motion of the truck cap during operation.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,815,787 issued to Hale, for example, discloses a U-shaped seal disposed between the truck rails, an attachment fixture, and a truck cap. The seal is compressibly engaged between the truck rail and the attachment fixture The seal is adhesively secured to both the underside of the attachment fixture and/or to the truck rail.
Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 3,387,100 issued to Gardner discloses a means for mounting a truck body cover to a truck bed. The Gardner patent shows a weather stripping seal comprised of vinyl, plastic or rubber disposed between the truck cap and truck rail. This weather stripping, as discussed in the Gardner patent, provides a tight weather seal between the truck rail and the truck cap.
In addition to the patents cited above, it is known in the art to utilize an adhesive foam tape for sealing the truck cap to the truck rails. This adhesive foam tape is either pressed on the truck rail mounting portions with the adhesive portion affixed to the truck rail mounting portion or pressed on the connecting portion of the truck cap. It is then necessary to trim the excess foam tape portions after connecting the truck bed cap to the truck rails with the foam insert in place.
The various truck bed seals disclosed in the prior art suffer from numerous problems associated with their continued use over time. For example, when transporting oversize cargo, i.e. cargo which does not fit within the confines of the cap and truck bed area, the truck cap must be removed from the rails. Typically, this entails the removal of various bolts, screws or other fastening means along with the corresponding cap sealer.
In cases where self adhering foam strips have been utilized as weather proofing sealant, these adhesives, upon prolonged compression, often become permanently affixed to either the truck rail mounting portion or the truck cap. Thus, upon removal of the truck cap, it is often found that partial segments of the cap sealer are left either on the truck rail mounting portion or on the truck cap connecting portion. These partial segments are aesthetically unappealing and detract from the overall function and appearance of the vehicle. Indeed, those skilled in the art will recognize that these partial segments must be completely removed from the truck rail mounting portions before the truck cap may be reattached.
In addition to the segmenting problem above, the weather stripping of the prior art, if not properly affixed between the truck cap and truck rails in the installation proceeding has also been found to shift relative positions in relation to the truck rails. In such cases, the weather proof sealing action of the cap sealer is diminished thus permitting water to be transported to the inside of the cargo portion of the truck bed via the non-sealed areas.
The increased popularity of light duty and medium duty trucks has produced various truck accessories which may be utilized with such vehicles. One such accessory, truck bed liners, are often comprised of a plastic material, and are inserted immediately adjacent the truck bed. Truck bed liners are utilized to insulate the lower cargo portions of the truck bed from abrasions caused by the shifting cargo carried in the truck bed. Truck bed liners are designed to follow the entire contour of the inside of the truck bed, including a front wall, a pair of side walls and a bottom wall. A pair of liner side walls extend up and sometimes over the upper portions of the truck rails.
Frequent travel on gravel roads creates vibrational movements not only in truck caps but in truck bed liners. Relative movements between the truck liner and the truck bed walls and truck rails is known to scratch and/or abrade paint off the walls and rails of the truck. To avoid scratching, those skilled in the art have utilized adhesive foam strips in the same manner discussed above to inhibit relative movement between the truck liner and bed walls. Specifically, it is known in the prior art to affix a self-adhesive foam strip on the inner portion of the truck rails prior to installation of the truck bed liner. As in the case of the truck caps, however, the continued use of adhesive stripping also results in segmenting upon removal.
Another truck accessory popular with today's light duty and medium duty truck owners is a rear truck box or rear truck tool box assembly. This rectangular storage box often extends across the width of the truck bed. Attachment flanges extend from the upper portions of the truck box and are utilized to support or fasten the truck box to the truck rail. These truck boxes are often filled with various mechanical and power tools. The utilization of a support of the present invention between the extending flange portions of the truck box and the truck rails protects the truck rails from paint scratches and abrasions through normal use.